All three of them had the sense to look ashamed of their behaviour which, besides being inappropriate, didn't align with company policy. There were mumbled excuses, but I wasn't buying it; their contracts were clear and clearly they'd not followed the directives they'd agreed to when brought on board.
Keep your prime movers clean at all times.
It doesn't seem so hard right? Sure, I'll admit that the weather hasn't been the best, trucks running at speed kick up a lot of road-spray and washing a prime mover is no small task...also, if the wheels aren't rolling money isn't being made, I get it...but the company I work for prides itself on presenting well to the customer and their customers, and that means clean trucks among other things.
The three trucks in question haul beverages and our client, an international beverage company, expect a high level of presentation; it's in their contract with us, and justifiably so. That's why our drivers who work there are afforded paid time to wash their prime movers. Getting paid to wash trucks means, trucks get washed, and not washing them means...A sit down and chat in the office which is what happened yesterday. They took it well, I'll admit, and were apologetic, after the stream of excuses about the weather, dirty roads, lack of time and so on. Blah blah blah, keep your fucking trucks clean lads!
Presentation and representation
In the work roles I've had, there's always been a need to follow rules and to show a great deal of discipline. Over the years, that's left me with a high regard for doing the right thing, presenting and representing well, following the rules and displaying the discipline to do so. Has it meant I've been better at my roles? Yeah, for sure it has. I've been better-received by colleagues and clients, more respected, taken more seriously, trusted, followed and have generally been more effective at the tasks I was there to perform. That doesn't mean I'd wear a tuxedo out in the field when something of a more utilitarian nature was appropriate, but it certainly means I took pride in, and care with, my presentation and how I represented myself and the organisations I worked for.
This would extend to more than my clothing and personal grooming. My desk or workspace would be immaculate, my vehicle clean inside and out and I'd be prepared, ahead of time, with the skills, attitudes, items and equipment I needed to do my job; Check, recheck and check again tends to be my policy. Turning up at a client's boardroom without the contract or a pen to sign it with isn't a good look after all.
It's this ethos that lies behind the, keep your truck clean, directive and the company expects it to be followed.
As it turns out, it was suggested by my State Manager that I address the issue as it seems these three grimy little fuckers haven't gotten the message in the past; he felt a different angle on the issue might help motivate them to clean up their act, literally. He also rates my ability to sell a concept I guess, so figured I'd sell it to the three grubby driver-bastards.
It was right about then I trooped off to the storage closet to get my axe, morning star and sword ready for the meeting. Okay, not really. I, unfortunately, applied no corporal punishment at all even though I really wanted to.
I won't get right into it, but essentially I explained the correlation between a high level of service and presentation and retaining the account. We, by default, represent that company, our tautliner trailers carry their branding as well as ours, and when people see us moving they relate the truck to our customer - most probably think it's that company's truck in fact. I explained that our service standards, right across the business, help win and retain customers and the better we present, and represent, treat our customers, deliver efficiently and so on, the more likely our customers will engage us, and stay with us. They seemed to get it. This particular customer spends just under $40,000 a week in transport with us, over two million dollars a year, and losing them wouldn't go down very well with the up-chain. We need to do it better and better to retain them and grow the account and that means every element needs to continuously improve. The three drivers seemed to understand, I think, but only time will tell. I didn't want to smash them, but tried to empower them to think and act accordingly. I also took the time to understand any gripes they had, suggestions for improvements and we talked about implementation of such things. They appreciated that. The next time they're spoken to it'll be them being told not to come back; the transport industry is brutal like that we don't want to go down that route though, and I hope these three dirty buggers have learned their lesson. Have you got any thoughts on presentation and representation at work? Do you seek to look your best, be organised and ordered in your workspace and mind? Do you apply discipline, effort and attention to detail with how you present, think and act? I'm of the belief that an ordered workspace reflects an ordered mind, and excellent grooming and personal presentation shows respect to the company or organisation, work colleagues and customers alike. What do you think?
OK, so I clickbait titled and imaged again...oops. I'm sorry for those who came here looking for something that was less oriented around trucks and work and more around getting dirty at work. It's ok though, for those that are that way inclined there's a few fiction-writing communities in which you could write a story about your dirty-work fantasies. I'll look out for your posts. original im src
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
The prime mover image is my own.